1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an integrated electronics package for integrating various electronic components that form an electronic circuit, such as an RF circuit, which is relatively simple to form and thus less expensive than known electronic packages and eliminates the need for glass feedthroughs for interconnections.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various electronic packaging systems and methods for forming integrated packages for electronic circuits, such as RF circuits, are known in the art. Examples of such an electronic packaging systems and methods are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,903,627; 3,401,309; 5,138,436; 5,148,135; 5,365,108; 5,376,909; 5,422,615; 5,526,867 and 5,602,141. In such electronic packaging systems, the various electronic components forming the electronic circuit are interconnected and housed to form an integrated assembly. The electronic components which form the circuit may be discrete components, integrated circuits as well as microwave monolithic integrated circuits (MMIC). Electronic packaging systems for interconnecting and integrating such components are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,903,607 discloses an electronics package for integrating discrete electronic components. U.S. Pat. No. 3,401,309 discloses an electronics package for integrating various electronic components including integrated circuits while U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,426 discloses an electronics package for integrating various electronic components including MMIC's.
In many known applications of electronic packaging systems, various electronic components including IC's and MMIC's which form part of an electronic circuit of interest are known to be carried by single or multiple layer substrates or printed circuit boards. In such applications, in order to provide a connection from one layer of the substrate or printed circuit board to the other or to components on different sides of the substrate or printed circuit board, glass feedthroughs are known for interconnecting the circuitry in such configurations. The glass feedthroughs essentially include a via or hole filled with a glass insulator which surrounds an electrical conductor. Examples of such glass feedthroughs are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,915,719 and 5,653,834. The process for forming the glass feedthroughs can be relatively complicated, for example as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,834. As such, electronic packages which utilize such glass feedthroughs are relatively expensive to fabricate. In addition, there are other known problems associated with such glass feedthroughs. In particular, such glass feedthroughs are known to leak or become damaged during testing and use.
Other known electronic packaging systems require multiple steps to fabricate. For example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,602,421 discloses an electronics package in which two ceramic layers are sandwiched between two metal layers. While such an electronic package may be suitable as an electronic package, the multiple steps and layers of the package generally increase the cost and complexity of the electronics package.